PRESCOTT, Ariz. - Day three of Arizona's annual trip to Prescott turned out to be quite a busy affair. In addition to two workouts in the gym, the team also took to the water at the local YMCA for a 30-minute water aerobics class led by trainer Amanda Ely.
The day began early enough with a "plain bagel" breakfast at 7:30 before the team headed off to Yavapai Junior College for the first practice of the day. Slightly cooler weather greeted the team, but it remained on the hot side for most of the day.

Morning Practice: The team warmed up in the now routine process at Yavapai. After stretching and getting ready the team worked on serve receive, defensive movement (which today included the three-man drill). They then moved on to station work, which consisted of working on blocks and defense. The team then regrouped and played as a whole in deep court before moving on to six-on-six. The practice ended at 11:30 and the team headed back to camp for a lunch of chicken patties and veggie burgers.

Evening Practice: The team loaded up into the two 15 passenger vans and headed off to Chino Valley High School at 1:45 for the second practice of the day. Warm ups were followed by the players breaking up into positional groups. The middle blockers and setters worked on slide attacks while the outside hitters worked on pin-point attacking. The session lasted just 2 ˝ hours to make time for the pool workout.

Into the Pool: Athletic trainer Amanda Ely cooled the team down with a half-hour water aerobics session at the YMCA. The team stretched, kicked and ran their way through the cool water. The sight of the team caught the attention of many of the locals who were at the pool and even made the regular water aerobics teacher quite nervous that she was late for her class.

Is Everyone Here?: Well almost everyone. On the way to the pool it was discovered that Amanda had been left behind at the Chino High gym after she had gone to get more ice for the players. A stunned athletic trainer stood curbside as assistant coach A.J. Malis returned to collect the lost member of the group. It wasn't the first time someone had been left behind, however. The day before volunteer assistant Kevin Jones was "late" to the 8:00 vans that left at 7:55 and was left at camp. One of the managers returned to fetch Kevin, who then put in a hard days work.

Into the Night: The players and coaches gathered for the final meeting in Prescott on Wednesday night. Coach Rubio reviewed tape from the day's practices and went over mental strength again (this time focusing on competitiveness and leadership). The players then performed skits by class and gathered with all the support staff to go over goals for the season to close out the evening.

Closing Out Prescott: The team will close out its stay in Prescott on Thursday with a final practice at Yavapai Junior College before heading back to Tucson at 11:30, just enough time for an afternoon practice in McKale.

For The Guys Who Do Lots of Work: In order for the trip to Prescott to happen a lot of logistical work must be done in getting the equipment from Tucson up north. The players and coaches would like to thank Chen Ponce, Blake Orlov and Matt Dyck for their hard work over the four days in Prescott.